


Love Like Water

by pterawaters



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Hospitals, M/M, Multi, Triad Verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 20:59:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8683153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: It takes Danny a few weeks of working with Steve to notice that Steve has been keeping a secret. He never would have guessed the secret was a man in the hospital -- a soldier gravely injured during his and Steve's last mission together. What's apparent is the place Freddie holds in Steve's life, and Danny has to admit to himself that it's a place he'd been hoping he could make his own.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to lovethesnark/kho, who beta read this work for me!
> 
> For this big bang, I worked with osointricate, who made the wonderful art. A link to her masterpost will be added shortly.

_You're staring again_ , Danny tells himself, pulling his eyes away from the office across the hall and back to his work. His delve into Sonny Carter's financial records is slow-going, especially since this is a cold case. Five weeks into this task-force and they've managed to solve all the cases the governor has seen fit to send their way. Without something new and exciting (dangerous) to work on, Danny can see Steve itching with the boredom.

A call comes into Steve's office, and Danny doesn't even bother averting his eyes again. This call might be from the governor, finally giving them a new case. Danny's leg bounces under his desk, and as soon as Steve hangs up, he's up and out of his chair. 

Letting himself into Steve's office, Danny asks, "We got something new?"

With a shake of his head, Steve answers, "No. Look, I got a personal thing I need to go take care of. Keep working on the Carter case."

"Yeah, okay." Danny goes back to his desk as Steve disappears down the hallway and out the door. He's still curiously watching the door swing shut when Kono shows up beside him. Scratching the bridge of his nose, Danny asks her, "You know where he always disappears off to?"

Shrugging, Kono says, "He'll tell us when he's ready. C'mon. I want to show you this program I wrote for getting through the financials faster."

~*~

With a sigh, Danny leaves the orthopedics wing of Tripler Hospital. He'd rather be back at Queens, seeing the doctor he chose when he was forced to move to this island, but joining Five-0 two months ago meant changing insurance. That meant changing doctors and Danny has to grudgingly admit that this doc is okay.

Danny limps through the lobby of the hospital, new cane in his hand and orders to rest his knee until the small tear in his ACL heals up. Again. 

The last person Danny expects to catch sight of in the lobby is Steve. He's coming into the hospital, so Danny waves him down. "Hey! Why do I have the feeling you violated my privacy by finding out which doctor I was seeing, and came to check up on me?"

Steve stops short, as if he's surprised to see Danny. The surprise on Steve's face doesn't quite jive with the assumption that he came to butt into Danny's business. Why else would Steve be here?

"Uh, hey, Danny," Steve says, quickly checking his watch before focusing his attention. "What are you doing here? Chin said you took an early lunch."

"Yeah, to get my knee checked out," Danny says, gesturing toward the offending joint. There's no way Steve didn't see Danny hobbling around the office earlier. Steve is not the kind of guy to miss an observation like that—at least as far as Danny has seen. 

However, Steve seems uncharacteristically distracted today. As much as Danny kinda wishes this flirting they've been doing is headed somewhere and Steve really is here to check on Danny, he senses now that's not the case. 

Steve is here on other business.

What if Steve is here to see a doctor? What if Steve is seriously ill underneath the super-soldier physique?

Narrowing his eyes at Steve, Danny asks, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Steve insists, putting on a smile, obviously for Danny's benefit. "It's all good, buddy. I'll see you back at the office!"

"Okay. See you," Danny replies, watching as Steve heads further into the hospital. Something weird is going on.

And of course, Steve referred to Danny as "buddy". 

Most days, Danny is fine with the knowledge that Steve doesn't see Danny in any romantic sort of light. What with the divorce not yet two years old, Danny thinks it's probably healthier not to get involved with his boss. Then again, Danny would be able to let go of this crush a little easier if it weren't for the way Steve deliberately riles him up now and again. 

~*~

"Steven," Danny says sternly, pressing his back to the concrete wall protecting him from the spray of bullets aimed in their direction. "Please tell me you're not thinking about doing what it looks like you're thinking about doing."

Steve double-checks the ammo in his weapons, and then puts one of them in the holster at his hip. "Hand me a flash-bang, would you?" he asks with a broad, toothy smile. 

Danny has a love-hate relationship with that smile. "No! There's sawdust everywhere!" Danny points out, which he didn't think he would have to, seeing as they're in a freaking _wooden furniture factory_. " _Flammable, explosive_ sawdust. You throw that, this whole place could explode!"

With a sly smile and a very slow blink that seems more suited for the bedroom than the middle of a firefight, Steve gestures for Danny to hand it over. "That's kind of the idea. We're pinned down."

"Okay," Danny says, clenching his jaw. "One, I'd rather be pinned down like this than exploded. And two, _this is why you always wait for backup_!"

Steve leans into Danny's space, reaching over him to take the flash-bang that's attached to Danny's tac vest. His face is so close to Danny's that Danny starts to think a kiss is inevitable, except Steve pulls away. He gives Danny what can only be described as a smug wink, and then tosses the flash-bang toward the shooters. 

The flash-bang is the only thing that explodes, thank God, and Steve has taken out all but the last shooter by the time Danny has recovered enough to help.

~*~

"Steve's not answering his phone," Danny says, watching the timer on the big screen count down steadily. It's been almost three months since Danny started working with Steve, and he's never been out of contact for this long. "What if something happened to him?"

"The ransom letter says that Steve is the one who needs to make the drop," Chin points out, like Danny hasn't already memorized the note. "We need to find him."

Kono pulls up a window, swiping it onto the big screen. "His phone is on. GPS tracking now." When the computer gives a soft ping, Danny watches the way Kono goes pale. "He's at Tripler. Or, his phone is."

"I'll track him down," Danny offers, grabbing the case of money from the table. "You two work on contacting the kidnappers. See if they'll let me do the drop off instead of Steve. You know, if worst comes to worst."

"Good luck, brah," Chin says. "Keep your phone on."

Danny holds up his definitely-on phone as he leaves HQ, saying under his breath, "Unlike some people."

The drive up to Tripler is short, and Danny has Kono talk him through to Steve's GPS location. The last door Danny heads through before reaching Steve's phone is labeled "SICU". Danny knows enough about hospitals to be freaked the hell out by that label.

"Just a few more feet, Danny," Kono says in his ear. "You're almost right on top of him."

It strikes Danny that maybe he's on the wrong floor altogether, when he sticks his head into one of the patient rooms and finds Steve. He's sleeping, limbs sprawled, in an uncomfortable-looking chair beside the hospital bed. 

To avoid the nurse doing rounds, Danny slips into the room. A few steps in, he can see the patient in the bed. It's a man, probably early thirties, hair cut military short. There's a breathing tube down his throat, and several IVs plugged into his veins. He looks more dead than alive, to be honest, and Steve is sleeping in the chair next to him. 

Suddenly, Danny realizes the purpose for Steve's presence here at Tripler last week, and maybe even for all those times Steve has disappeared on "personal business". Just who is this man to Steve?

As much as Danny wants to ask the question, the governor's kidnapping takes priority here. He ignores the man in the bed and goes to Steve, putting a hand on Steve's shoulder and shaking him. 

"Steve. C'mon, we've got a situation."

Taking a sharp breath as he suddenly becomes alert, Steve blinks at Danny. "Situation?" Before Danny can answer, Steve's gaze slips past Danny's shoulder to the man in the bed, and his eyes go wide. "Danny, I—"

"Talk later," Danny insists, getting Steve up onto his feet. "The governor's been taken. The kidnappers want you to make the ransom drop."

Steve spares one more glance for the man in the bed, and then he's out the door, Danny scrambling to keep up. "Tell me everything," Steve demands.

~*~

Two days after the governor has been rescued, the kidnappers have either been shot dead or are in custody. Danny still hasn't found out about the man in the hospital. Steve hasn't mentioned him at all, which tells Danny he doesn't want to talk about it. 

Then again, a man is entitled only so much privacy from his partner. Danny needs to know that Steve's connection to the man in the hospital isn't something hinky and covert that's going to put Danny in danger by association. He has a daughter to raise, thank you very much.

Danny buys a pack of the beer he's seen Steve drink and shows up at the house. He knocks, but doesn't wait before heading into the house through the unlocked front door. "Steven! We're talking about this!"

He stops short when he catches sight of a stranger standing in the doorway to the kitchen. The man is older, his head shaved bald, and he's wearing a camouflage uniform. A bright grin on his face, the man finishes wiping his hands on a dish towel and extends one for a handshake. "You must be Danny. I've heard a lot about you."

"That's funny. I've heard nothing about you," Danny says nervously as he shakes the man's hand. "You are?"

"Joe White," the man says, looking over Danny's shoulder as footsteps come down the staircase behind him. "Steve's father. I'm just back from being deployed overseas."

At those words, Danny finds his gaze drawn to the patch of living room floor that was covered in John McGarrett's blood the first time Danny set foot in this house. Of course, Danny's brain catches up and he remembers the next-of-kin notices that had to be delivered by the Navy. At the time, Danny had been glad it wasn't him making the death notification for once. Now, with John McGarrett's son at Danny's back and his husband in front of Danny's face it feels like he's back on the hook. "I'm sorry for the loss of your husband, Commander White."

White looks down and then off to the side, sighing. "Thank you, detective. However, John and I hadn't spoken for a few months when he died. I'm not sure we even considered each other husbands anymore."

Steve joins them, his arms crossed over his chest and a deep frown pointed toward White. "Pop…"

"You know things were never the same after your mother's death," White says. "He sent me away just as much as he sent you and Mary away. It just took me a lot longer to realize it." White chuckles sadly. Dishcloth still in his hands, White turns back toward the kitchen. "I'll let you two discuss what needs discussing."

Steve raises his eyebrows at Danny, so Danny just decides to come right out with it. "The man in the hospital. Who is he?"

"Lieutenant Commander Freddie Hart," Steve says, his voice brusque and unemotional. "He was injured during the mission I led to capture Anton Hesse."

Okay, Danny is sensing that there's a lot more to the story than what Steve's letting on. If this Freddie guy was just a teammate, why would Steve hide the fact that he was going to visit him all the time? No, Freddie means more to Steve than that. "He's your partner," Danny guesses, "your boyfriend."

Pressing his lips together, Steve nods. 

"Okay, then. So what's with all the secrecy?" Danny demands, catching Steve by the arm when he tries to turn away. "I told you all about my daughter and my exes and everything. So, you got someone in your life, and he's hurt. Why the top secret—"

"It's my fault," Steve says, cutting in. His jaw clenches before he elaborates. "Freddie's hurt because of me."

Hearing his voice go soft at the sight of all that guilt on Steve's face, Danny asks, "How is it your fault?"

"I chose him for the mission." Steve's lips twitch upward in a brief, humorless smile. "Spec Ops, so there was more wiggle room in assignments. We would've been separated on any other mission, but I was selfish. I wanted him to have my back."

"Ah," Danny says. He thinks he could argue that Freddie could have been injured on any mission, regardless of whether Steve assigned him to it or not, but Danny also knows the rationalization isn't going to do anyone any good.

After a moment of watching the pain on Steve's face and needing to do _something_ to make it better, Danny admits, "I lost a partner, back in Jersey."

"Yeah?" Steve asks, motioning Danny toward the couch in the room. 

Danny sits down, and waits for Steve to settle into the recliner before he continues. "I mean, I wasn't sleeping with her or anything, but she was my partner, you know? I was cocky, made a stupid mistake, and she…" Danny takes a deep breath to fight back the prickling tears at the corners of his eyes, even after all this time. "She died. I loved her and I had to watch her die."

"God, Danny," Steve says, reaching out and putting a hand on Danny's arm. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Danny says, taking another deep breath. "Anyway, the guilt never did me any good. Can't see it doing you any good either."

Steve stares at Danny for a long moment before giving a careful nod and looking away. 

Danny can't help but lean slightly closer to Steve. "Just be glad he's still alive."

Steve looks down at his hands. "He might not pull through."

"Not with that attitude, he won't," White says from the doorway, a careful smile on his lips and his arms crossed over his chest. "Gotta keep hope alive, son."

Steve points at White and says, "Don't even get me started on how you shouldn't have let me and Fred pair up for that mission."

"Hindsight and all that," White replies, sounding _almost_ contrite.

"Yeah. Hindsight." Steve scoffs, but he doesn't brush it away when White puts a hand on his shoulder. 

Danny wonders—not for the first time—what it would have been like to grow up with two dads instead of two moms. He imagines there would've been less emphasis on talking through one's feelings, which explains a lot about Steve's behavior up to this point.

Add on top of that his mother's death when he was a teenager, and it's no wonder Steve doesn't talk about these sorts of things. 

"Hey, walk me to my car?" Danny asks Steve. He can tell he's not going to get very far with Steve as long as Joe White is around. Danny has a million questions about Freddie and why Steve would keep him a secret, but they're going to have to wait for another day.

"Yeah. Sure."

Outside the house, on the short walk to the end of the driveway, where Danny parked, Steve seems to relax. 

"Having your Pop around is that stressful, huh?" Danny asks, knocking his elbow against Steve's side as they slow to a stop.

"What? No," Steve says, more than a little defensive. 

"Uh huh." Danny rolls his eyes. "And all the secret-keeping? What's that about? I'm your _partner_ , Steve. If I'm going to trust you to have my back out in the field, I've got to know what's going on with you. Where your head's at."

"My head is fine," Steve insists. "I'm a Navy SEAL, Danny. I keep my head in the game, no matter what."

Danny knows this next bit is pushing the limits of their friendship, but he needs to know if Steve is someone he can count on. "And if, like you said, your boy doesn't make it?"

Steve clenches his jaw, his nostrils flaring as he looks away, eyes shining. His voice is tense as he repeats, "No matter what."

Clamping down on the reflex to be cynical about Steve's self-assessment, Danny decides to give Steve the benefit of the doubt. After all, they are partners now. He nods, pressing his palms together as he says, "Alright. Okay."

"Okay," Steve replies, and just like that, Danny's sure they have an understanding.

~*~

Almost two weeks later, Danny gets a call from Steve at the crack of dawn. Groaning, he answers the phone. "This had better be good."

"Danno. Partner. I need a favor," Steve says, arrogantly like he knows Danny's going to say yes. 

Danny's probably going to say yes. 

Still, he groans and says, "You know, you'd have a better chance if you stopped calling me 'Danno'. You know I hate it when you do that."

Danny can practically hear Steve's brilliant grin as he chuckles, the asshole. 

"Listen, the governor's sending me to California. Needs me to escort a high-profile prisoner back here for trial. I'm gonna be gone a couple days."

Danny wants to ask why the U.S. Marshals aren't good enough for this prisoner transfer, but instead he asks, "What, you need me to feed your fish?"

"I don't have fish," he says. "No, Danny, I need you to—" He breaks off his request with a huff. Danny gives him the silence he apparently needs to work his way up to finally asking, "Would you keep Freddie company? I mean, I know he's not awake. The doctors aren't sure he'll wake up at all, but…"

Danny sighs. "No, I get it. You don't want him to be alone."

"Yeah."

"Sure," Danny says. "Sure, buddy. I can look in on him for you. Don't got Grace this weekend. No other plans. No problem."

Steve sounds relieved, letting his breath out in a loud rush. "Thank you, Danny. I mean it. Thank you."

"Yeah, well." Danny's chest feels warm, so he rubs at it. "You're lucky I'm divorced and don't have much of a life anymore." The words don't sound quite as bitter as Danny feels them. 

His voice soft, almost like Danny wasn't meant to hear it, Steve says, "I am lucky." Then he clears his throat and says, "Okay, buddy. I gotta go. I'll call you."

Danny's left looking at his silent phone and bargaining with himself over how much time at the hospital this promise actually requires of him.

~*~

It feels weird going to a hospital empty-handed when it's not an emergency, so Danny brings a Get Well Soon balloon that he picked up at the grocery store. Nobody stops him on his way to Freddie's room, so he's all the way inside before it occurs to him to knock. Just in case Freddie has woken up and Danny hasn't gotten the message, he knocks on the wall just inside the room.

There's no response.

"Uh, hey," Danny says, more out of his own need to be courteous than because Freddie can hear him. As Danny steps further into the room, Freddie comes into view, just as hooked up to wires and tubes as he was the last time Danny was here. "I don't know if you remember me. I'm Danny." There's no response, and Danny doesn't know why he even bothers to pause waiting for one.

"Uh, this is for you," he says, setting the balloon's weight on the side table, on top of a single greeting card envelope that says "Hart" in Steve's penmanship. 

It's funny. During the past six weeks, Steve has struck Danny as an incurable pragmatist, without a sentimental bone in his body. After all, the man's been living in the house where his father was murdered. Who does that? And yet, here's a card Steve has written to a man in a coma. 

"Looks like Steve wrote you a card," Danny says to Freddie, because it just feels weird to sit here silently. "What do you think is in there? I'm guessing not a love poem." Danny laughs to himself. "In fact, I'd be surprised if it's anything other than 'I'll be back on Thursday, don't die'."

Freddie doesn't answer.

"I mean, that's one crazy boyfriend you've got, Fred. You know, he got me shot the first day I met him." Danny settles into the chair next to the bed. "Lucky for me, it was just a graze." Danny eyes the monitor next to the bed that's keeping track of Freddie's pulse and breathing. He sighs. "Not so lucky for you. Huh, buddy?"

Danny almost gets up out of his chair, ready to call his visit good enough. After all, the guy isn't conscious. He's not going to know whether or not Danny is in the room with him. Still, Danny made Steve a promise, and a man is only as good as his word. He should probably stick this out for at least an hour. 

There's no way Danny can sit here for an hour in complete silence—save the occasional pumping noise from the blood pressure cuff—so he decides to talk. "Well, what better to talk about than our mutual friend? You know, just a few days after I met Steve, he hung a guy off a building. I don't know, maybe that's S.O.P. with you Navy guys, but as an interrogation technique? Something that tends to be frowned upon here in the U.S." 

Danny chuckles. "I remember so clearly how terrified I was that the perp would slip and die and I would have to arrest Steve. It would have been a shame, having to lock up one of the few friends I had on the island." He takes a long look at Freddie. "Is that something Steve does often? Shanghai people into being his friend?"

There's no answer, obviously, but Danny starts to feel less self-conscious about talking to a silent body. "Now, you might ask how we got ourselves into a situation that resulted in hanging a guy off a roof. Buckle up, man, because it's kind of a long story, and I don't got nowhere else to be."

~*~

An hour later, Danny is halfway through telling Freddie how he and his team rescued an ambassador's daughter from her kidnappers when he hears a sound from the bed. Breaking off mid-sentence, Danny watches Freddie in silence for a moment. Just as he starts to think he's gone batty from talking to himself for too long, Danny hears the sound again. 

Freddie groans against the tube down his throat, his fingers moving weakly, and his eyes still closed. Danny panics, taking a couple steps toward the door. 

Then he remembers the promise he made to Steve and stops. If Steve didn't want Freddie to be unconscious and alone, there's no way Steve wanted Freddie to be alone when he woke up. Even if Danny is a stranger, he's better than nothing. 

Consciously relaxing his clenched jaw, Danny goes over to Freddie's side and presses the call button for the nurse.

The nurses make Danny leave the room while they look at Freddie; by the time they let Danny back in, Freddie's asleep again. He's got a nose cannula instead of a breathing tube, and a couple fewer wires attached, but otherwise Freddie looks the same as he had before starting to stir. Danny catches one of the nurses and asks, "How is he?"

"Getting better," she replies with an encouraging nod. "We expect him to be in and out of consciousness today and probably tomorrow."

"Can I stay with him?" Danny asks, trying not to shift awkwardly on his feet. He's a stranger to Freddie, despite how they have Steve in common. If it wasn't for the promise he's made, Danny would leave well enough alone.

Although, that's somewhat of a lie to himself, Danny realizes. Stranger or not, he couldn't let a good man, a soldier, wake up alone with no one there to tell him what's going on except the nurses and doctors.

The nurse smiles and gives a quick nod. "Sure. Until visiting hours are over, of course."

"Of course," Danny replies, returning her smile with one he hopes is charming enough to make her "forget" about him when visiting hours are over. After all, it's only another 36 hours before Steve is back on the island and can take over this duty himself.

Speaking of Steve, Danny figures he'd better call and make sure Steve hears it first from him that Freddie's awake. Hopefully Steve won't do something stupid, like abandon his mission and take the first plane back to the island. 

~*~

Danny wakes up to a groan that, judging from the painful kink in his neck, he could have been the one to make. As soon as he opens his eyes he realizes that he's fallen asleep in a hospital chair, and Freddie's stirring in the bed. Danny takes a sharp breath and gets to his feet, pushing back his hair and straightening his sleep-rumpled clothes as best he can.

For a moment, Freddie stops moving, and Danny thinks maybe he's fallen asleep again. But then Freddie's eyes blink open and search the room slowly before falling on Danny.

Danny gives Freddie an awkward wave. "Uh, hey." 

Freddie's eyebrows draw together, creating a furrow between them. "Hey?"

"Do you know where you are?" Danny asks, stepping a little closer, but keeping a polite distance from the bed.

Freddie looks around, rubbing his face with one hand and giving a sardonic little chuckle. "Looks like a hospital." His smile turns cheeky. "If it wasn't for the pain, I might mistake this as heaven, and you for an angel."

Is he...is he _flirting_ with Danny?

Danny clears his throat awkwardly. "Definitely a hospital," he says, choosing to ignore the flirting. Maybe Freddie's brain is rattled and he doesn't remember being in a primer couple with Steve. He should be flirting with women, not with Danny. 

Freddie coughs a few times before reaching for the glass of water the nurse left on the table beside his bed. Danny moves the glass closer to Freddie and waits as he wets his throat. 

When Freddie seems settled again, Danny asks, "What do you remember?"

Freddie's smile falters. "I think…" he starts, scratching at his scalp with clumsy fingers. "I think I remember talking to some doctors. Was that here?"

"Yeah, a couple hours ago," Danny replies, starting to get nervous. "What about before that?"

His face falling, Freddie says, "I was on a mission and I got hit. My partner? McGarrett?"

Dispelling Freddie's obvious worry, Danny assures him, "Steve is fine. He'd be here, but the governor sent him to California for this whole prisoner-exchange thing. He's back tomorrow."

Freddie's brow furrows and his lips press together tightly for a second before he asks, "And here is _where_? Exactly?"

"Tripler," Danny tells Freddie, pulling his chair closer to the bed and sinking back down into it. "Army Hospital. Oahu."

"Hawaii?"

Danny nods. "Yeah, Hawaii."

"Fuck," Freddie says, letting his head fall back against the pillows. "I hate Hawaii."

"Wait." A giddy feeling rises in Danny's throat. "You actually hate Hawaii too?"

"Hell, yeah! I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm a Navy guy. I like the ocean," Freddie explains. "But there's something about an island that's kinda claustrophobic, right?"

Danny laughs, delighted to be vindicated after more than half a year of everyone insisting he's crazy for hating it here on Oahu. "Exactly!"

"I grew up going on road trips all across the country. It only takes what? Half a day to drive around the whole island?" Freddie scoffs and shakes his head, taking another sip of his water. "Of course Steve brought me here while I was unconscious. He always tortures me with the notion that we're going to retire here."

"Um," Danny says, not sure where to start when it comes to catching Freddie up on the past two months. 

"Oh, god!" Freddie sits up straighter. "What did Steve do?"

Danny can't help but smile sadly and clap Freddie's uninjured shoulder. "Hang onto your hat, buddy. This is going to take awhile."

"Oh, Jesus," Freddie replies, covering his eyes with one hand and laying back in the hospital bed. He takes a deep breath and lets it out. "Okay. Give it to me. What has that idiot done now?"

Danny controls his laugh—after all, Danny has to break the news about John McGarrett's death—but he thinks to himself that he probably likes Freddie Hart more than he likes Steve. And Steve's basically Danny's closest friend, even after just two months.

The fluttering feeling in Danny's stomach is one that always spells trouble.

~*~

"Hey," Steve says, a bright grin on his face as he claps Danny on the shoulder. "Beers and steaks at my place?"

Danny watches Duke load the suspect into a squad car, his heart finally starting to slow after the chase to bring Jones down and wrap up the case. He asks Steve, "Is this your attempt at an apology for getting me shot?"

"It hit your vest," Steve says, pointing to where the slug is embedded in Danny's tac vest. 

God, Danny's going to have a bruise there for weeks, isn't he?

With a bit of a sheepish smile, Steve adds, "Yeah, okay. Maybe. What do you say?"

"I say throw in an ice pack or two and I'll be there," Danny replies, grinning when Steve laughs. "Freddie finally up and around?"

Rolling his eyes, Steve says, "Yes. You'd think he got shot in the head instead of the gut, the way he's moaning around the house. 'Steve get this, Steve get that'! I'm starting to relish getting called in on a case."

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Danny says. "You know, back in Jersey, before Rachel and Stan, I had this one boyfriend—construction worker, mind you—who was just the _biggest_ baby whenever he got sick."

Steve gets this look in his eye that Danny has yet to put a name to. "What was his name?" Narrowing his eyes at Steve, Danny asks, "Why? So you can look him up? You know too much about my life already."

"And yet, you keep sharing things." Steve grins and brushes past Danny as he heads toward the car. Danny tries his best not to notice the scent of Steve's cologne. "It's almost like you _want_ me to know everything about you."

Frowning, Danny follows Steve. "It's called friendship, McGarrett. And pieces of information should be shared freely, not discovered because you have no qualms about abusing your access to Federal databases."

Steve rolls his eyes again, smiling as he puts his phone to his ear. "Yeah, hey, Fred. Put some pants on, would you? I'm bringing Danny home." He pauses for a moment and chuckles. "For _dinner_. Come on, man!"

For a moment, Danny tries to guess what Freddie must've said, but all the guesses he's coming up with just seem implausible.

Voice soft, in that way Danny has noticed Steve tends to save for Freddie, Steve says, "Yeah, me too."

Danny likes the way Freddie makes Steve feel actual emotions, rather than push them aside like he did all the time before Freddie woke up. Since Freddie is also a Navy SEAL, Danny was expecting him to be just as closed-off and "hoo-yah" as Steve. As far as Danny has seen, that's just not the case. 

Danny can see why Steve and Freddie have been together for so long.

At the McGarrett house, Freddie meets them at the door, calling out, "Hey, look! Pants!"

Steve rolls his eyes, but he's smiling and greets Freddie with a quick kiss. "Your accomplishments are astonishing, Hart," he says with fond sarcasm in his voice.

Ignoring Steve's comment, Freddie holds his arms out to Danny, crying, "Danno! Welcome to our home!"

Danny shakes his head, but takes the offered hug. Freddie is even bigger than Steve, so it's kind of like getting hugged by an overenthusiastic gorrilla. Nice, just the same, though. "He's got you saying it too, huh?" Danny asks when Freddie starts to let go. Danny calls past Freddie to Steve, "I thought I told you I don't like it when you call me that!"

"Liar!" Steve calls back, halfway to the kitchen already.

Turning to Freddie, Danny asks, "So, how're you feeling? Recovered?"

Freddie lifts one shoulder and closes the door after Danny has cleared it. "Eh. Mostly. My reflexes aren't combat-ready yet and Naval command is pushing me to retire."

"Well, you did get shot and concussed by a grenade," Danny points out. "There's only so much your country can ask of you."

Coming back into the room with three beers in hand, Steve doles them out as he says, "I keep telling Fred he'd make a great house husband."

"Ah, but we'd need to find someone to marry us first," Freddie says, winking at Steve as he takes the beer. "You know, Catherine called again last week. Wants to come for shore leave."

"Catherine?" Steve asks with a salacious chuckle. "Catherine's not exactly the marrying type, if you know what I mean." He smiles at Danny.

A hot feeling that Danny doesn't want to name burns in the pit of his stomach. Not wanting either of them to know he's feeling anything, Danny fakes an appreciative laugh. "A real cutie, huh?"

"Yeah," Freddie answers as he and Steve settle down on the couch. Danny takes the easy chair, rather than the third seat on the couch, as inviting as it looks. "Though, don't let her hear you call her that. She'd probably kick your ass."

"Ah," Danny says, wondering if that's the kind of girl Steve and Freddie go for. He wonders how long it's going to be, now that they've given up the Navy life and settled down on the island, before they find someone that fits the bill. Looking at the picture the two of them make, lounging together on the couch, Danny bets himself that it won't be long at all. _Everyone_ eligible is going to want to finish out that triad.

"What about you, Danny?" Steve asks, reaching over with his foot and nudging Danny's calf. "You got any prospects of the romantic type? Seeing anyone?"

Shaking his head, Danny admits, "No, and…" He sighs, grasping for an excuse, though he's not quite sure why he feels he needs one. "I guess I'm just not ready. After the divorce and everything."

"That's got to be so weird," Freddie says, shaking his head. "Being divorced? I don't think I've ever met anyone who was divorced before."

"Well, now ya have," Danny says, turning away from the two of them to stare out the window in the den beyond. He doesn't need more reminders of his failed relationship, though he does get people wanting to understand the oddity of his situation. 

Personally, Danny thinks everyone's been sold this lie that complete relationships never fall apart, that people don't change, that love lasts forever. None of it is true. 

"Hey, sorry, man." Freddie reaches over and puts a hand on Danny's arm. Danny's stomach flips—he must be hungry. Where are those steaks he was promised? "I'm a dick."

Danny snorts at Freddie's self-deprecation. "Apology accepted." Danny hazards a glance over at Freddie and Steve, noting Freddie's sheepish smile and the fondness in Steve's.

_Oh. Oh, no._

Danny recognizes the feeling in his gut. It's the same as when Jenna Kingston loaned him her study notes in the tenth grade. It's the same as when Michael Halstead woke up in his bed, smiling in the morning sun. It's the same as when Rachel bumped his squad car.

Danny's having feelings. 

Shit.

Steve clears his throat. "So, dinner, huh? I'll get those steaks going."

Freddie's hand is still on Danny's arm, and when he removes it, Danny tries not to flinch at the disappointment. Instead, he puts on his best friendly face and offers to help.

Danny's heard the warnings all his life. "Make sure you don't fall for the _wrong sort_ of primer couple, Daniel." Though the message was everywhere, his Nana Murphy was the loudest voice expressing it. Danny had learned later in life that one of Nana Murphy's sisters had fallen for a woman-woman primer couple and had chosen living with them over conceding to her family's wishes. Danny's fairly certain she died before speaking to her family again.

Of course, it's sixty years later, and times have changed, but that doesn't mean acting on his feelings isn't going to have consequences for Danny. Not to mention the consequences it could have for Steve and Freddie, if they somehow miraculously returned Danny's feelings. No, it's better to just ignore them and move on. 

Doing so turns out to be a rather intense case of "easier said than done". 

~*~

Kamekona's joke still making him smile, Danny escapes the main room of Steve and Freddie's house and heads for the kitchen. The first bottle of champagne had been drained for the midnight toast, ringing in the transition between 2010 and 2011. Danny doesn't have Grace for New Year's at all, so he doesn't feel the least bit guilty going for another glass of bubbly.

Danny gets the cork popped without incident and is pouring himself a glass when Joe White comes through the kitchen door. Danny holds up the bottle and asks, "Can I freshen up your drink, Joe?"

"Yeah, thanks," Joe says, holding out his (plastic) champagne flute. When his glass is full, Joe takes a sip, smacking his lips and smiling at Danny. Before Danny can ask what the smile is all about, Joe speaks up. "I've seen the way you look at my son, Detective."

Danny's pulse jumps, like he's been caught red-handed. He's been careful these past few months not to let his feelings show. Apparently, he hasn't been careful enough.

Making his face as neutral as possible, Danny asks, "What way do I look–"

Joe moves in closer suddenly, and it takes all of Danny's effort not to drop his champagne and put up his fists. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, _Detective_ ," Joe says, his voice calm and somehow still menacing. "Now, Steve and Freddie have been together a long time. They've saved each other's lives more than once, and they're good together. Don't you go thinking it's possible to break them up. Do you hear me?"

Danny curls his empty fist tightly at his side and licks his lips, trying to gather his thoughts so he can make a calm response. He'd much rather put his fist through Joe's face at the mere _idea_ that Danny would jeopardize one of the best relationships he'd ever had the privilege to witness. Is that how Joe sees Danny? As some sort of home wrecker? Someone inferior and unworthy of the Navy SEAL Joe had spent a lifetime training?

"I would never mess with anyone else's relationship, much less one as strong and healthy as Steve and Freddie's," Danny insists, holding his ground against Joe. He keeps his eyes locked with Joe's as he takes a very deliberate, defiant sip of his champagne. 

Joe's whole scalp moves—as well as his ears—when he raises his brows suddenly. His sardonic grin is followed by a scoff before he says, "Oh. Oh, I see! You want _both_ of them. Wow."

The amount of disdain in that final "wow" makes Danny see red. He's so preoccupied by trying not to get himself in trouble by killing Joe with his bare hands that he's unable to formulate any sort of coherent response.

"Yeah," Joe says. "Yeah. I thought so. Listen," Joe puts a hand on Danny's shoulder, and it's a monumental effort for Danny to stop at just batting Joe's hand away. "You need to _stop_. Steve and Freddie are going to find someone _female_ to spend their lives with, and some fancy-pants punk [swain](http://triadverse.tumblr.com/post/86154454124/triad-verse-faq) from Jersey isn't going to interfere. You get me, son?"

Danny sets down his champagne, lifts his chin, and steps an inch closer to Joe. "Yeah. Yeah, I fucking get you." Joe stares at Danny, neither one of them flinching or looking away, until he finally smiles and stands up straighter, stepping back. "Good! I knew we could resolve this with an old fashioned heart-to-heart. See you around, Detective." 

Joe turns his back on Danny like he's no threat at all, and walks away. He leaves the kitchen with this smug set to his shoulder, and Danny gives a silent prayer of thanks that his gun is locked up in his car. If he had it on his belt right now, there's no telling whether he'd be able to resist using it on that smug son of a bitch.

Danny knows he can't have Steve and Freddie, okay? He's known it since he first realized Steve disappeared sometimes to check in at the hospital with someone he cared about. Danny's known it since he started hanging out with Steve and Freddie, telling himself he needed more friends in his new home. He's known it since he realized what that uncomfortable knot in the pit of his gut meant.

He doesn't need some half-assed, hoo-yah father figure to tell him that a three-man triad is doomed before it's begun. Yeah, maybe it's something that happens in high school, when you and your buddies are too chickenshit to ask out girls. It's something you're supposed to grow out of. 

Sure, Danny's heard the rumblings. He knows about the movement started by homo-mono people to get same-sex triads recognized legally. Hell, if you lived in Massachusetts, you could get same-sex married. So, it's possible.

Danny's just not sure it's for the best.

But there's something about the way Joe warned Danny off that makes the contrary part of Danny's brain light up like a Christmas tree. Fuck Joe. Danny was doing perfectly fine without his so-called advice.

Freddie lopes into the kitchen with all the carefree clumsiness of a giant puppy dog, saying, "Hey, Danno! Where's the new bott–"

He stops short when he sees Danny's face. Huh. He must not be hiding his fury very well.

"What's–" Freddie starts to ask, taking a few careful steps toward him. "Danny?"

Looking at Freddie, all Danny can think about is how he's off-limits. **NNWM Day 1** Freddie's off limits and Steve—who has just followed Freddie into the kitchen—is off-limits, too. They're both off limits, but Danny figures _fuck it_. Despite his profession, he's never been that good at following the rules.

Instead of being good, instead of following Joe's "advice", Danny steps right up to Freddie, taking Freddie's wrist in his hand, which Freddie allows. As Freddie asks, "Danny?" he reaches for Steve, too.

"Just, come here," Danny says, pulling Steve close. Steve allows it, and when Danny grabs the back of his neck and pulls him into a kiss, he allows that, too. Kissing Steve is exactly as Danny has imagined it, warm and dry, and a little bit rough.

As Danny releases him, Steve blinks a few times, stunned. Freddie asks, "Danny? What–"

Danny pulls him into a kiss, too. Freddie's eyes glance over at Steve for half a second before he bends down far enough to allow the kiss. Kissing Freddie is oddly similar to kissing Steve, and Danny thinks he shouldn't be so surprised by the similarities. After all, they've been together since the Naval Academy. They probably learned how to kiss together.

Just as Danny is about to pull back, Freddie takes a sharp breath and pulls Danny closer. He deepens the kiss, pressing harder until Danny opens his mouth on the next kiss. The brush of Freddie's tongue over the tip of Danny's makes him weak in the knees and a little dizzy. 

The press of Steve's warm body along Danny's back feels right in a way that not much has recently, and Danny can't help but laugh a little.

Freddie pulls back, making a questioning noise, his brows drawn together with concern.

Danny shakes his head at the silent question. "Nothing," he says, gasping and shivering when Steve places a kiss on the back of Danny's neck. "Just– just New Year's is usually for making resolutions." He turns his head to kiss Steve again. "Not for breaking them."

"Yeah?" Steve asks, pressing his forehead to Danny's, and kissing him again quickly. "What resolution are you breaking here, Danno?"

"The one where I, ah–!" Danny's interrupted by Freddie's hand on his ass and lips against his jaw. "Where I keep my feelings and my … my _hands_ to myself."

Steve and Freddie share a look before Freddie grins broadly and kisses Danny again. "I think we'll forgive you for breaking that resolution."

"Yeah?" Danny asks with a relieved laugh.

"Oh, yeah," Steve replies, kissing Danny so deeply that he's knocked back against the kitchen counter. 

Freddie wipes his mouth on the back of his sleeve and says, "I'm gonna go declare the party over. I'm suddenly feeling _really tired_."

For just a moment, Danny's overcome with disappointment. He really thought this little make out session was heading somewhere. But then, he realizes that Freddie's just using his health as an excuse to manufacture some privacy. He laughs again, suddenly giddy and hugging Steve tightly. "Yes. You should definitely go do that!"

As the door closes behind Freddie, Steve suddenly sucks a spot on Danny's neck, to dizzying effect. "Jesus, Steven!" Danny gasps, not sure whether to push Steve away or pull him much, much closer. A sudden sliver of doubt runs through him and Danny can't help but ask, "Are you sure? About this?" Danny watches as Steve pulls back, his eyes searching Danny's face. "About _me_? I mean, I know you guys are technically still Navy, and I don't exactly have the right _equipment_ for–"

Steve kisses Danny's lips while he's still trying to talk. "I'm sure, Danny," Steve says, the edges of his mouth twitching upward, like he thinks Danny's insecurities are goddamn _cute_. "I'm sure. Fred's sure. We're giving this a shot."

"And if it ends? If it ends badly? My track record for relationships isn't exactly–"

Danny gets cut off by another kiss, a habit that he's going to have to break Steve of sooner or later, he's sure. "If it ends, it ends," Steve says, shrugging as he puts his hands on Danny's shoulders. The weight of Steve's hands is comforting, like they're keeping Danny in his body and out of his head full of worries. "I'm betting it doesn't, though."

"I'll take that bet," Danny says, reluctantly letting Steve go when he backs away. A second later, Kono and Chin come through the kitchen door, each carrying a load of plates and glasses, Freddie right behind them. As the sounds of his friends happily speaking surround him, Danny can't help but share a secret smile with Steve, then one with Freddie.

This is one bet Danny won't mind losing.

~*~Epilogue~*~

"I'm too old to be a flower girl," Grace complains, pouting in the mirror as she adjusts her plumeria crown. 

Danny snorts and rolls his eyes. "You're twelve, not forty. What? You want to be my grooms-maid? Who's gonna spread the flowers out, then?"

"Get the dog to do it," Grace replies, giving her crown another nudge before sighing and turning away from the mirror.

Danny reaches forward and straightens the strap of Grace's dress."The dog's already the ring-bearer. That's more than enough jobs for a creature that has problems understanding that shoes are not chew-toys."

The joke doesn't even get a smile, which makes Danny more than a little concerned. He puts his hands on Grace's shoulders and ducks down (just a little these days) to meet her eyes. "What's going on with you? You okay? You have a problem with what's going on today?"

"No!" Grace assures him quickly. "No, Daddy. That's not it."

"Then what is it?" he asks insistently.

Grace presses her lips together, picking at her corsage for a moment before finally admitting, "Mom and Papa have been fighting."

"Oh," Danny replies, heartbroken for his little girl. She's already been through Danny's break up with Rachel and Stan. Grace has to be wondering what changes are in store for her if they break up with each other too. He puts his arm around her shoulders. "Grace, listen to me, okay? Whatever happens with your Mom and Pop, you'll have a home with me and Steve and Freddie. We're not going anywhere."

"Are you sure?" she asks, her eyes wide and still a little sad.

Danny gives her his best grin. "Are you kidding me? What do you think today is all about? What, is your dad getting married all the time, or is this a once-in-a-lifetime, big deal sort of day?"

"Twice in a lifetime," Grace says, but she's smiling.

Danny pokes her in the side a little. "Yeah, yeah, smart aleck. Let's go get your Dad married, huh?"

~*~

Danny stands at the side of the yard, waiting for the ceremony to get started when a figure approaches him. He's half-expecting it to be Freddie, struck by a bout of nerves, but it's Joe. Danny crosses his arms over his chest. "If you're here to try to scare me off, it's not going to work."

"No, no," Joe says, putting up his hands in surrender. "I know there's nothing I can do. When my boy sets his mind to something, it _happens_."

Danny relaxes a little, but doesn't quite let his guard down. "Yeah, I've noticed." He watches Joe stare out at the water for a long moment before asking, "What are you doing here, Joe? I thought you weren't going to come?"

"I changed my mind," he says, sparing a quick smile for Danny. "I came to the conclusion that maybe my previous objections were informed by some outdated mindsets."

"Yeah, a bit," Danny says with a scoff.

With a chuckle, Joe admits, "Mary might have slapped some sense into me."

"Good for her."

"Yeah." Joe sighs. "This marriage is legal now. Official position of the Navy is to accept Narrows like any other sailor. Everyone's getting with the times."

Danny flinches at the slur, though he knows Joe probably doesn't intend it maliciously. Still, Danny has to fight the urge to insist that none of them are actually Narrow, it's just that their same-sex relationship makes it look that way. Danny's knee-jerk reaction isn't fair to people who are _actually_ narrow, and he knows that.

Joe turns to Danny and sticks out his hand. "Welcome to the family, Williams."

Taking a moment while giving Joe a wary look, Danny finally decides to give Joe the benefit of the doubt. Forgive, if not forget, like his parents taught him. He takes Joe's hand and shakes it. "Thank you."

With a grin, Joe says, "Time to get married, sport. Are you ready?"

Thinking over the life he's rebuilt since he met Steve and Freddie, Danny nods. "Hell, yeah, sir."

"Hell, yeah," Joe repeats with a laugh, wandering off to find his seat in Steve's depressingly sparse family section.

Danny takes a deep breath, catching sight of Freddie on the other side of the yard. He gives Danny a sloppy salute, and Danny can't help but laugh, despite the way the sight of Freddie all dressed up takes his breath away. Steve is up at the back of the yard, speaking with the priest, looking just as devastating.

This is going to be great. Hell, yeah.

~*~ End ~*~


End file.
